Weeks 2 AND 3 of Semester 2. I bet you're excited.

Hello again. I'll be honest, there hasn't been much going on the past two weeks singularly, therefore I am pluralising this post. I know ! Some cutting edge work right there. Rather that do a chronological analysis of the past week, I'll talk about each class for both weeks in the same blurb. So I'm just going to crack on.

Well as per usual Monday started with going to see Marlisa about my dissertation. The first week we discussed that I needed to write an introduction for the next week. However in this first week I was pretty busy and also stuck on a starting point, so the next dissertation meeting was -very- similar to the previous, but with more apologies. This week, I think has helped me more as I explained my problems and received some guidance. I'm pretty sure I'll get it done this week. I also used this time to discuss what to write about for my individual research project. I think I'll be able to start that this week as well, if the dissertation progresses that is.

The next port of call on a Monday is the Digital Audio Production Multimedia class. Prior to the first week, I finally received the video I am composing music for, which really helped with the class... The first week of the class, I would say that I used my time effectively as I edited musical ideas that I had for the video into the video. This took a lot of patience as I had to find out how to use multiple time signatures in Cubase and then work out each hit point of the video. It took a while, but was 'worth' it. The next week was far less productive, as I just corrected mistakes and had a creative block. No it's not a cop-out. Honest.

Jump forward a day and that takes us to Tuesday and that starts off with the portfolio class. The first week was mildly awkward as I had not told my designer that he was fired because I had not seen him. In the morning he text me asking if we could meet up in the afternoon, I asked him to come at midday. In the class I had started to write my press release for the press pack when he came in. I took him outside and told him that I would no longer be requiring his services. He understood and left. Apparently that's only the second time a designer has been fired... I promptly went back to writing my press release. The next week I was late for the class as I was attending a student representative meeting. Which, think went quite well as I raised several issues that the students were concerned about. *Good Rep* Anyway, I arrived later on in the class and Helen had some work to show me. I was impressed, I liked the stuff ! I'm eager to see more.

The class which follows that is Film and TV. I'm not sure about the class' current format as I seem to be struggling with composing in a set time. I think I'm not comfortable with writing on Cubase, which is contradictory but that's how it is. I think I would prefer using Sibelius as I think it would get me into composition mode. I mean I do like the class and I have been working in the class, but I feel that I just can't do my best with the time constraints of the class. Plus we have been doing different things every week, so there's no recapping. I think I will get on better when I start work on my chosen pieces.

I also met with my supervisor for my individual project this week. It's Steve Murphy. I explained my project and what I have done so far with it. He was impressed with the choice of topic and my organisation so far. Speaking of which, last week I had two rehearsals: one with the band and one with the singers. The band rehearsal went all right, we struggled with Dixie Chicken as it has a complicated harmonic structure which needed a vocal line for the band to follow. However Heartache Tonight went very well. The singer's rehearsal went very well. I had the practice in my flat with two vocalists and a pianist. We went over all the songs the band had done so far. The harmonies were good fun, I even joined in with the singing. I hope to have all my singers there next time, can't wait !

I attended some other rehearsals too, both of which consisted of musicals. They were good fun !

I was busy last week due to an ABBA gig at the weekend, which required me to travel. It went well and hopefully there's some more work to come from it.

Catch you later !

Daryl

Semester Two: The Streets

Hello, that was quite a break wasn't it ? Looks like we're back to college, but it seems not for long. There's only three months until the finish line and there's a lot to do...

Like this blog.

Well I'll cut to the chase and go over this week. Monday saw us in with an early start and a meeting with the staff. At this meeting it was explained that we had a 'new' timetable and a new class. We also discussed our projects, wrote the members of each band on a piece of paper and assigned new time slots for our dissertation meetings. It was wild. Following the meeting was a rather large gap between 'classes', so I attended Alex's Lord Of The Blings script read through. It's quite funny, but I honestly don't get the relevance, but I'll do it anyway for the banter. On a similar note, I am an idiot. I have taken on 7 other projects other than my own... I am a fool, but at least I'll get to play my guitar. I will list the projects: Alex's Project, Alison's Britpop Musical(Acting/singing), Tess' Cowboy songs project (?), Natalie's Supertramp set, Jp's Reggae set, a song or two in Tiffy's Disney project and a few songs in Paris' Musical songs thing. Plus I'm helping out with an HNC band on Wednesdays. I am going to be a busy boy.

Afterwards we had our usual class of Digital Audio Production Multimedia, however with a slight change. We have a new lecturer for the class, Mike Brown. During the class he interviewed people and asked about their progress. I was not interviewed, however the class was actually properly explained by Mike and now I actually understand what I have to do, which is a nice thing to know two thirds of the way through the year... However in the class I didn't do any work as I had not yet received the video for the project. I have now received the video and now I can do work. Go me.

Tuesday was also 'productive'. It started out with a meeting about Alison's britpop musical. We discussed available times. Tuesday night. There. Personal portfolio class, started with disappointment as, surprise surprise, my designer was not there. I had also heard he was in New York and he STILL hadn't done any work. This annoyed me greatly. I spoke to Helen about his reliability and it was decided that I had to fire him. Boo hoo. However on the upside, my designer is now Helen, which is great ! I'm looking forward to see what she will produce. During the class I made her a mood-board as a 'guide'. It included various pictures of guitars and stuff. It was cool. I also have to write her a bio for the website ? Oh well, sounds good. Afterwards we had a new class, Film and TV. It was pretty good, writing music for film and TV, bonza. However this week my work came to a halt as I was writing a theme for Prison Break and I couldn't find a decent bell sound. *sigh* I spent most of my time doing that, I had only wrote about two notes. I was mildly ashamed. But I'll get it next time...

Wednesday was good day ! I had my first rehearsal for my project and it went brilliantly ! It was only a practice with the rhythm section but it was sounding good for a first rehearsal. We went over Get Rhythm, Jealous Guy and Let's Work Together. Initially I was a bit nervous as I had never played slide guitar in a band before, but after a couple of run-throughs I was tearing it up ! Get Rhythm is quite a tricky number as it has some intense right-hand comping. I think I'll need to practice that a bit more. It was also decided that the songs is also tricky geographically and the band need to follow the vocals, which we didn't have this week, but don't worry, we got through. I am really excited about this band.

Also this week I handed in my evaluation for the ensemble project and I bought a load of books for my dissertation research.

Catch you next time.

Daryl